The home of a man who helped set up the forerunner to the powerful Heung Yee Kuk looks set to become a monument. Fat Tat Tong - meaning "mansion of wealth" - hits all the high standards required for statutory protection, according to a paper submitted to the Antiquities Advisory Board yesterday.

Lau Wong-fat said he appreciated efforts made by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration, but he hoped a "generous approach" would be taken to tackling some of the thorny issues affecting rural residents.

Perhaps town and country just don't get along. This may be why urbanites like yours truly are always picking on the Heung Yee Kuk, the powerful rural body that represents indigenous villagers in the New Territories.

There was tough talk about ending the small-house policy in the New Territories when Leung Chun-ying was running for chief executive. Now, you wonder if the government hasn't given in. Leung still says it can't go on forever but does not point to a way out. The latest from development chief Paul Chan Mo-po is that it's "a complex issue that needs to be reviewed".

The chief of the powerful rural affairs body has softened his opposition to the idea of scrapping in 2047 a policy that allows male indigenous villagers in the New Territories to build three-storey houses.

Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat expressed willingness yesterday to consider abolishing the decades-old policy in 2047, which would mark 50 years after the handover.

A public forum on the plan to develop 787 hectares of land descended into chaos on Saturday as 6,000 people turned up, many to protest. But Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the development was needed to meet the city's housing needs.

A local newspaper has drawn attention to the level of bacteria in seven public swimming pools because they exceed what are considered as safe limits. According to the Oriental Daily, two swimming pools - Lai Chi Kok Park and Chai Wan - have bacteria levels five times higher than is considered safe. The bacteria includes E coli.

Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat said yesterday that he had declined an offer to stay as an Executive Council member under Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying so he could focus on handling conflicts over unauthorised structures in the New Territories.

The remarks on the small-house policy made by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor while still development secretary, shortly before she became chief secretary, sparked considerable controversy. She raised the prospect of terminating the policy by 2029.